Oil Continues Its Decline After Data Show Weekly U.S. Oil-rig Count Up By 2

Oil futures continued to decline Friday after data from Baker Hughes revealed that the number of active U.S. rigs drilling for oil climbed by 2 to 416 rigs this week. They have now posted increases in 11 out of the last 12 weeks. However, the total active U.S. rig count, which includes oil and natural-gas rigs, edged down by 2 to 506, Baker Hughes said. October crude was at $42.97 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down 94 cents, or 2.1%, from Thursday's settlement. It traded around $42.93 before the rig data.